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Mystery Fossils

Activity

Creating and Identifying Your Own Prehistoric Creatures

Have everyone design their own fossil and draw it. Share your drawing with a friend or family member and have someone else create the creature they think made the fossil! Give it a scientific name and a common name and briefly describe its characteristics. Where did it live? What did it eat? How long did it live? *If you have a bigger group you can make a game out of it and try to guess which fossil belongs to which creature*

Science Seed

Because fossils don’t preserve skin or organs, it can be difficult for scientists to determine what dinosaurs really looked like and how heavy they were. They can only guess weight based on how much modern land animals weigh for their size and scale up for dinosaurs. Scientists find out what dinosaurs might have looked like by studying the shape and density of microscopic cell organelles that contain melanin, the pigment that gives color to hair, skin and feathers. Your hair and skin contain melanin just like dinosaurs, birds and other animals get their colors from melanin. Scientists think that dinosaurs were many different colors, and several had early versions of feathers!

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earn Badges

Badges can be earned through hands-on experiences within each of the 16 branches of science, or “Science Slices.” You can earn a badge in each branch of science by doing four activities in these categories. We also encourage participants to keep a Nature Journal to record their memories, and to express themselves creatively through writing or drawing after each activity. We recommend that each child (and parent if they’d like) write or draw in a journal after each activity, with expectations of your children that match their age (the goal is self-expression, not perfection).

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join Families in Nature

It is our vision to inspire all families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists. Becoming a member of Families in Nature will give your family the opportunity to have adventures in nature, experience field science, develop as youth conservation leaders, and make memories that will last a lifetime. Memberships are free for everyone.

Who are we?

Families in Nature works to create opportunities for nature connection with the purpose of sparking a deep love and desire to protect, conserve and restore the environment. Our mission is to connect children and their families to nature and to each other through time spent learning, playing, and volunteering outdoors. It is our vision to inspire ALL families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists.

This project was made possible by HEB.